62F and bright sunshine @ 11:00 ...
Enjoying my first cup of coffee and trying to wake up ...
Was outside up at the shed yesterday doing metal work and a young man came riding out of the neighbor's woods on a mountain bike and went on by me. I waved as he went past.
Several minutes later he returned and pulled up next to where I was working ... wanted to know who owned the woods he had just come thru so I explained who owned what. Said he was looking for a place to hunt during bow season in a couple weeks.
I told him my neighbor who owns the woods (or part of it) probably wouldn't allow him, but he was certainly free to check.
He then asks what do I own ... so I explain that to him and he says that he is willing to work doing whatever work I might need around the property in exchange for being allowed to hunt it during bow season ... and some money (fairly cheap it appears), if I have a lot of work (which I do)
He explains that he's a member of the local roofers union (probably a helper of some sort, given his age) and work has not been steady. Also volunteers that he does tree work, and has his own climbing gear, spikes, etc.
At this point I'm thinking this is manna sent from Heaven ...
I'm not real keen on having people hunt our property, particularly if I don't know them ... but here this enterprising young man is actually
asking ...
and offering something in exchange ...
Turns out that he had come to the house a couple of years looking for work and I had told him "no" at the time (for who knows what reason) ... after he mentioned this I sort of dimly recalled it ... he looked familiar.
I tell him "yeah, I've got a total crapload of work I need help with" ...
So we go down and have a look at half a dozen trees that I want some limbs (a dozen or more) taken out of - some of them 20' up or more, and good sized (10") ...
At this point, he's getting pumped up and excited - at the prospect of having a place to hunt and finding some work. We come to an agreement: permission to hunt our property during bow season, plus $175 ... for doing this tree work ... cheap I think, given the amount of work ...
We didn't discuss it specifically, but I'm guessing that this might include bucking the limbs to firewood lengths and gathering up the brush to be moved to one of the brush piles. I'd be supervising him during all the work and acting as his ground man.
He can't get to it right away ... he has some other work to do and has to go spend a day visiting with his Grandmother ... but wants to get it done within the next week or so (bow season starts in two weeks
)
He explains that he'd like to hang around and discuss more projects and work I might have but he has to leave ... 'cause he has to go babysit an orphaned kitten for his girlfriend.
... lol ...
So later that afternoon I call the wife and tell her I've found a young man to help out getting some work done around the place ... with permission to bow hunt as partial exchange for his services.
Now keep in mind that I've constantly had to hear about how I need to find a young person to give us hand around the place, there's too much work for us, we're not getting any younger, etc.
She completely wigs out ... she doesn't want anyone hunting on our property (16+ acres), bows are dangerous ... and those arrows can travel a long, long ways, liability, etc., etc., etc. ...
... SMH ...
The kid - who is 19 - seems (at first blush) like a decent young man ... enthusiastic, motivated, and clean-cut ... other than a small tattoo or two ... and the post he has stuck through his tongue ... wouldn't be my fashion choice but hey:
kids ... what ya gonna do ?
What am I missing here ?
